This invention relates to loaded shotshells and the components therefore and more particularly to an apparatus and method for separately and safely recovering the contents of a loaded shotshell.
With the increasing popularity of the sport of trap shooting, skeet shooting and upland bird and waterfowl hunting, it has also become an economic necessity for the serious shooter to reload his spent shotshells or hulls. This trend has grown rapidly as the cost of powder, petroleum based plastic shotcups or wads, and lead has risen sharply in the past several years. These increases, passed on to the consumer in higher prices for factory loaded shotshells, is also reflected in the higher cost of the components used by the load-your-own group of shooters.
Even though there are many different reloading tools being marketed which do an excellent job of providing safe reliable hand loaded shotshells, there are still a wide variety of variables which are factors in the preparation of a suitable handloaded shotshell. For example, the number of times a hull has been reloaded affects the condition of the hull, which condition will vary depending on its structure, shape and the materials from which it is made. The design, condition and the and the adjustment of the apparatus provided for resizing the base of the shotshell, and for making the crimp at the top of shot chamber are also very important variables which can be responsible for ruining a reloaded shotshell by rendering it unuseable in a gun. Likewise, though many reloading apparatuses are provided with elaborate fail safe devices for preventing the hand loader from erroneously placing shot where power should be or vice versa or even mixing the two in either chamber of the shell reserved for only one component; it is still possible, with often depressing regularity, to create a shotshell which is unuseable for one of the foregoing reasons.
In this situation it has been the practice, before the present invention, for these culls, or bad shells, to be accumulated and eventually either disposed of or cut open to render the shells harmless and/or recover the components. This operation requires the deft use of a pocket knife.
Either improper disposal or the improper use of a knife can produce a potential hazard. Likewise at the trap line or any shooting range, not infrequently, a misfire can occur from either an improperly loaded shotshell, either hand load or factory load, or from a mechanical malfunction of a gun, where it is often necessary to dispose of a live shotshell. This also presents a potentially hazardous situation if not done properly.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a device and a method for safely opening a shotshell to render it harmless and, if desired, to remove and recover the reuseable components therefrom.